Electrotyper&#39;s furnace.



ELECTRDTYPER'S FUBNACE.

(Application med May1'2, 189s.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN F. JACKSON, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ROBERT HOE, THEODORE I-I. MEAD, AND CHARLES WV. CARPENTER, OE NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTROTYPERS FU RNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part 0f Letters :Patent NO. 645,296, dated March 13, 1900.

Application led May 12, 1893. Serial No. 680,442. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t 11mg/ concern,.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. JACKSON, of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrotypers Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to gas-furnaces such as those employed by electrotypers for melting metals. In such furnaces it is common to employ melting vessels of different sizes and to so construct the top of the furnace or that portion which supports the vessels as to permit these different sizes of vessels to be used interchangeably. In the ordinary construction, however, the larger vessels are usually supported with 'their bottoms nearer the burner than the smaller ones, and hence are heated differently, no provision having been made heretofore,` so far as I am aware, for maintaining the burner at a uniform distance from the bottoms of the various-sized melting vessels. Y

My invention has for one of its objects,the1e fore, to produce a construction in which the burner may be maintained at a uniform distance from the bottoms of various-sized metal vessels.

A further object of my invention is to produce a burner consuming air and gas and more particularly intended for use in connection with an air-supply from which the air is fed to the burner under pressure and in which the air shall be admitted to the burner in such a manner that even combustion may be maintained in all its parts, with the result that the heat developed in all parts of the burner is substantially the same, whereby its efficiency is increased and its life lengthened.

With these objects in view my inventionl consists in certain parts, improvements, and combinations, as will be hereinafter described, and fully pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

Of the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification, the figure represents a sectional view of a furnace constructed in accordance with my invention.

a designates a frame or casing forming the outer part of the furnace and having a top portion which is constructed to supportsmelting pots or Vessels of dierent sizes. To this end one or more concentric rings at are provided, Which are fitted in the top of the furnace after the vmanner of an ordinary stovelid. One of these rings is here shown, together with a melting vessel b, su pported by the inner edges of the ring. By removing the ring aan enlarged aperture is exposed, formed by the inner margin of the fixed portion of the furnace-top. A vessel of a larger size than the vessel b andv of the same general shape Wuld be supported in this larger aperture with its bottom at a lower level than that of the vessel h. To provide for this difference in position of the bottoms of the different sizes of vessels and to accommodate a burne'r or burners accordingly, I have provided the following construction: c is a casing having an upper compartment or chamber c', to which air is supplied through a pipe c2, and a lower compartment or chamber c3, to which gas is supplied through a pipe o4. The top wall of the air-chamber is formed with a number of apertures c5 c5, which are occupied by the upper ends or orifices of pipes c6 c, leading from the gas-chamber c3. When gas and air are supplied in the proper proportions, they become mixed above the top of the casing c and when ignited furnish a hot ilame similar to that furnished by a Bunsen burner. This flame (or series of ames) heats the bottom of the vessel b and serves to melt the metal therein. The casing or burner c, as here shown, is provided with downwardly-projecting arms o7 c7, having plungers cS at their lower euds. The said plungers operate in tubular standards ci c, and below the ends of the plungers are 1ocated springs c1", which sustain the casing c. It will be seen that by this arrangement the casing is normally projected upwardly, but is adapted to yield when forced down from above.

d designates a spacing member or rest hav ing a screw-threaded shank which screws into the top of the casing c and is provided with a look-nut d'. When a melting vessel is placed in position, its bottom abuts against this spacing member or rest and serves to maintain the casing or burner always at a fixed distance from the bottom of the vessel no matter what size of vessel is used. The distance may be varied by adjusting the membercZ up and down with respect to the casing. The lower end of the pipe c2 telescopes intoa supplypipe cl2, which may be connected With a blower for supplying air to the burner. In a similar manner a iiexible connecting-pipe 013 is used to connect the pipe c4 with a suitable source of gas-supply.

In burners as heretofore constructedit has been customary to-admit the air at the side of the air-chamber. When, however, air under pressure is forced into the side of an airchamber which has a series of apertures through which the combined air and gas are to escape and burn, it happens that those apertures which are in the direct line of the blast receive more air than the remaining apertures. The result of this is that a stronger combustion is maintained at the apertures which are in the direct line of the blast than attheothers. Theburnersconsequentlyburn out quicker at such points and an even heat is not imparted to all parts of the melting vessel.

In the construction embodying this invention the pipe c2, which supplies the air to the chamber c', is led into the chamber preferably at its bottom and at a point which is preferably substantially equidistant from all the apertures c5 in which the orifices of the gas-pipe c6 lie. By this construction the air which comes through the pipe c2 under pressure is distributed equally to all the apertures. An even flame is consequently maintained in all the apertures, so that an even amount of heat is given oft to all parts of the melting vessel, and, furthermore, no one part of the burner is apt to be destroyed by the development of excessive heat in that part as compared with the other parts, due to the fact that such part of the burner receives an undue amount of air.

I do not claim herein the construction of the burner per se, as the same is covered in my Patent No. 622,482, dated April 4, 1899.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described a way of constructingand using the same, although without having attempted to set forth all the forms in which it may be embodied or all the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim isl.' An apparatus of the character specified, comprising a frame having provisions for supporting vessels of dierent sizes, a yieldinglysupported burner, and means interposed between a vessel and the burner, for maintaining said burner at a predetermined distance from said vessel.

2. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising a frame having provisions for supporting vessels of different sizes, a yieldinglysupported burner, a spacing member connected with said burner and adapted to engage a vessel to maintain the burner at a predetermined distance from said vessel, and means for adjusting said member to vary that distance.

3. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising a frame having provisions forsupporting vessels of different sizes, a yieldinglysupported gas-burner, means connected With said burner and adapted to engage a vessel to maintain the burner at a predetermined distance from said vessel, and conduits connected with the burner for supplying air and gas thereto.

4. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising a vessel-supporting frame and a burner below it, one of said parts being yieldingly supported relatively to the other, and means for cooperating with a vessel resting on said frame to maintain a predetermined distance between the burner and the bottom of the vessel.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. JACKSON.

Witnesses:

C.F. BROWN, A. D. I-IARRIsoN. 

